AUGUSTA, Ga. — There is still a protective shield that keeps outsiders from knowing all of his most inner thoughts and regrets. Tiger Woods will never be an open book.

But the Tiger Woods who has returned to Augusta National this week after two years away from the Masters is far more insightful, accommodating and, yes, even more vulnerable than the supremely focused, unfriendly cutthroat champion of the past.

You saw it all around Augusta National on Tuesday when Woods engaged with the patrons he once ignored and flashed his smile so often you wondered if he was doing a toothpaste commercial. Heck, he even played a practice round with one-time archenemy Phil Mickelson and his cold war with the media seems to have warmed.

Maybe Woods is growing soft at the ripe old age of 42. Maybe he’s a changed man after going from not being able to stand up because of a bad back to being a favorite to win the Masters again. The recent trials and tribulations of Tiger Woods, including personal issues and multiple back surgeries, have created a more authentic Tiger Woods who is easier to root for.

“It’s a miracle,” he said Tuesday, when he held his first pre-tournament press conference since 2015. “I went from a person that had a hard time getting up, walking around, sitting down, anything, to now swinging the club. That is a miracle, isn’t it?”

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A miracle? Perhaps. Unexpected? Certainly. Woods is among the favorites to win the 2018 Masters based on his four previous green jackets and top-five finishes in his past two PGA Tour events. It’s also because he has become a sentimental favorite having seemingly overcome all he has had to overcome to get back to where he is.

Since winning his most recent Masters in 2005, Woods has been through it all: a personal life that had to be rebuilt after divorce and multiple knee and back surgeries that threatened to end the career of the 14-time major champion. When he won his most recent green jacket he was viewed as the perfect husband and father and an invincible golfer. With his flaws and injuries well-documented, Woods is being embraced, especially by his peers who have been ecstatic about his return to form.

“This is just like a fraternity,” Woods explained. “When somebody gets hurt and someone gets sick, we bond. We come and try to support them as best we possibly can because we all know what it takes to be at this elite level. I think that a lot of the players, especially the older players, really understood what I was going through because we all have dealt with injuries.”

Woods said it has been “probably seven, eight years,” since his body has felt this good, and called his previous attempts to work through his back issues “a big pipe dream.” He admitted his back “was fried” this time last year. Cortisone shots and epidurals didn’t work. When he decided to have fusion surgery on his lower back last April 20, he said he figured, “I’ll have a nice, comfortable, great life, but I’ll never be able to swing the club like I used to speed-wise.”

He has, surprising even himself. “I don’t know if anyone who has had a lower-back fusion that can swing the club as fast as I can swing it,” he said.

While Woods calls himself “a walking miracle” he stopped short of calling it the greatest comeback in golf. That belongs to Ben Hogan. “He got hit by a bus and came back and won major championships,” Woods said.

Woods said he’s still getting accustomed to all the younger players paying him homage as their idol or inspiration. He’s not ready for a rocking chair.

“It’s flattering, it’s nice,” he said, “but I still want to compete and I want to beat these guys and hopefully this will be a good week.”